1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates generally to a grooming device for use on fur-bearing animals and more particularly to a grooming device for use on pets so that hair and other debris may be removed and retained by the grooming device.
2. Background of the Art
A variety of grooming devices, generally in the form of combs and brushes, have been utilized for cleaning fur-bearing animals. Typically, to groom dogs or cats, a toothed metal or plastic comb is used for cleaning, tidying, straightening and partially removing excess and dead hair. However, these commercially available grooming devices have not proven successful in solving the grooming problems related to the partial nature of the removal of the animal's loose and dead hair. Hair removed by these devices typically escapes from the tines of the device, falling to the furniture and floor and creating a generally unpleasant house cleaning experience. Additionally these devices are not capable of removing large amounts of hair, particulary when the animal is shedding, as the drag between the hairs on the animal is greater than the drag between the grooming device and the hair. Consequently, loose hair remains in the animal's fur.
Some grooming devices, specifically designed for animals losing or shedding their winter coats in spring, may be from a strip of sheet metal. Edges of the commercially available devices may be machined or die cut with a series of teeth by which is hair stripped or cut from the animal's fur. The irregular teeth of these grooming devices are ragged and have rough edges. As a consequence, these grooming devices not only loosen and remove some of the animal's hair but they also cut the animal's skin and remove living hairs.
Grooming devices have also been fitted with vacuums and adhesives in order to facilitate the removal of loose hair while attempting to minimize the cleanup. These grooming devices have proven to either frighten the animal with their noise or pull living hair from the animal's skin. These experiences tend to prolong the grooming operation. Additionally, these grooming devices are relatively costly and cumbersome.
Pet owners and grooms prefer a grooming device that does not cut the animal's skin, does not need electricity, does not frighten the animal, does not require messy adhesives and does not make a mess of the house and the furniture. The apparatus of the present invention provides pet owners and grooms with a grooming device which efficiently removes dead hair without cutting or frightening the animal while retaining a large amount of the dead hair on the grooming device and obviating or facilitating the cleanup.